Minnesota Public Relations Blog

Advertise on MNPR

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Spong
recently added new hires Nick Hanson, Cassie D’Kae and Kirsten de St.
Aubin to its Minneapolis office to serve client growth at the public
relations and
creative communications agency.

Hanson,
who joined as a counselor, will work with account management and media
relations teams for clients American Standard, Sherwin-Williams and
Trane. Before joining
Spong he was a senior account executive at Himle Rapp and Company where
he worked on media relations and digital strategy for clients in a
variety of industries including agriculture, health care and
transportation. Previously he was a public affairs, media
relations and social media specialist at Mayo Clinic where he promoted
health care innovation, patient success and research to consumers
worldwide.

He
holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in news editorial journalism and
political science from St. Cloud State University.

D’Kae,
who joined as a senior associate, will work with account management and
social engagement teams for clients Arla Dofino, Bath & Body Works,
Castello and H&R Block. Before joining
Spong she was a senior account executive at Exponent PR, part of
Colle+McVoy, where she provided account service, social media strategy
and influencer relations management for clients.

Prior
to working at Exponent PR, D’Kae was a social media coordinator at
Event Architects Minneapolis where she created and managed the
first-ever social media presence
for Minnesota’s Living Green Expo, the Midwest's largest sustainable
event.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing management with a minor in journalism from the University of St. Thomas.

As
an associate, de St. Aubin will support several client teams, focusing
on account management for clients Sherwin-Williams, MasterBrand and
La-Z-Boy. Previously she
was a communications and public relations coordinator at Prestige
Resorts & Destinations where she worked with HubSpot to increase
website traffic and build personalized content on the website. She
presented her personalization strategy to the Minnesota Chapter
of the American Marketing Association last May.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication with a minor in sociology from the College of Saint Benedict.